Originally Posted by
Wilfred Laurier
There are two issues you are experiencing -
I would posit a third issue...habit. People get "used" to the way a bike fits and have trouble changing. I've had to fight that problem for more than 40 years. Not me...I fit any 58cm road and any 19" mountain bike that is made without issue...but my wife. My wife is a very tiny 5' tall. Her first bike was a Sears "10 speed" and was a 27" (in other words it had 27" wheels). The frame was closer to my size or about a 23". She figured out how to ride it as a kid and when we got into bicycling, we got something closer to her size (still too big) and it didn't feel right. She was used to riding a huge bike.
As we upgraded, the bikes she could get were still to big...the smallest sizes up until a few years ago was a 49cm. When manufacturers finally got enlightened and started making smaller bikes, her "actual" size of 43cm felt far to small. She has the proper sized bike now and it feels "normal" but it was a long road to get her to actually accept what was right.